Assistant Professor, Geography
Email: jaytjohnson@ku.edu
Phone: 785-864-5547
Office: 402 Lindley Hall
Jay T. Johnson (Ph.D., University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2003)
My current research interests concern the broad area of Indigenous peoples' cultural survival with specific regard to the areas of resource management, political activism at the national and international levels and the philosophies and politics of place which underpin the drive for cultural survival. Much of my work is comparative in nature and has focused predominately on New Zealand, Australia and North America.
Certificate of Recognition for Contributions to Students, University of Nebraska - Lincoln Parents Association, 2007
Professor Jay T Johnson and geography PhD student Will Price are currently conducting archival research and preparing for field research on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, site of the negotiation and initial signing of the Treaty of Waitangi between Maori chiefs and the British Crown on 6 February, 1840. This treaty established British sovereignty over New Zealand while promising to protect Maori self-determination over their lands and treasured resources. The site of the signing of the treaty, the house occupied by the British Lieutenant-Governor and the Maori carved meeting house added for the 100th anniversary have become a major tourist destination. These buildings and surrounding lands were purchased by Lord Bledisloe, then Governor-General of New Zealand, as a gift to the nation intended to aid in nation-building. It is for this reason that the Treaty Grounds have become the focus of much of the Waitangi Day national holiday celebrations.
Maori, the Indigenous peoples of Aotearoa/New Zealand, have, in more recent years used the Treaty Grounds as a site of protest over the failures of the New Zealand government to protect their self-determination since the signing of the treaty. They have used the ‘birth-place of the nation’ and the Waitangi Day national celebrations as an opportunity to air these grievances before the nation. This research project will explore the contested interpretations and employments of the landscape of the Treaty Ground to support frequently conflicting political and cultural agendas.
Jay and Will will travel to New Zealand in mid-January of 2010 to conduct research at the National Archives, the Auckland War Museum, and the University of Auckland libraries. We will also be conducting interviews prior to and during the Waitangi Day national celebrations at the Treaty Grounds with a variety of individuals involved in creating the spectacle and celebration. We intend to produce two journal publications related to this research and Jay hopes to continue the research and eventually produce a book. This research is partially supported through funds from the Kansas University Center for Research.
